


Galvanised [Nyx x Reader]

by Knuddlmuffin



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Character Death, Drama, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2019-04-14 23:30:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14146992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Knuddlmuffin/pseuds/Knuddlmuffin
Summary: kinda modern AU!The world as you knew it is gone, as terrifying monsters roam the earth. Along the way, you find yourself struggling to find out what is the right thing to do to save whoever you can. And falling for Nyx Ulric does not exactly help your difficult situation - or does it?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of my first bigger projects, and actually I'm a bit nervous to post this. Nevertheless, enjoy!  
> And please don't hesitate to inform me if you find any mistakes or wrong structures (I'm a non-native speaker, striving to improve!)

In the distance, you could hear a marmot whistling. You tried looking for it, but due to the endless mountainsides, that was impossible. Still, you let your gaze wander across the green slopes, vacant of trees because of the height. The blue sky, tainted with only a few shreds of clouds, seemed like a painting, only to be witnessed by the two of you.

The scenery was so beautiful, you wanted to cry. Especially since it could be the last time you'd see something like this. You wanted to savour the view, but fear of the future had you in its grip. The impossibility to shake off the dark thoughts made you reach out to Nyx.

As he felt your touch, he lifted his hand to gently grab yours. The thoughts that had intruded his head were the same as yours, he needed your support as well.

Both of you stared into the distance, completely taken in by your surroundings. Only the noise of nature vibrated in your ears, until you decided to voice the question that had been occupying your mind for some time now.

"Do you really think this world is worth saving?", you asked Nyx.

He let his sight graze you shortly, before settling for watching the mountainsides again.

"Why wouldn't it?", he gave you another question in return.

"There are many bad things happening", you explained your train of thoughts. "So many cruel things, crimes, rape, murders, people exploiting others. The human race is probably going to destroy this planet anyway. Why should we bother trying to save a species that is the sole reason for the downward spiral of this world?"

"Don't think like that." Nyx squeezed your hand and leaned into you. "There are so many innocent people who still deserve a chance to experience life."

A short pause gave him time to collect his thoughts.

"I believe that everyone has to try to do the best they can. Sometimes it might not change anything, or even result in a worse situation, but as long as you do the best that's possible, that doesn't matter. You can go in peace."

After a few moments of thinking about his answer, you had to agree. No one, not even yourself, could blame you as long as you tried your best.

"You're right", you whispered and leaned your head on his shoulder.

"I know", he said, and you could hear the small smile on his lips. You loved how his playful conceit was still there, even after all that had happened, even with the dooming future that laid ahead of you.

Again, a silence arose between you as both of you enjoyed the quiet and peaceful moment in the mountains.

Your gaze wandered to your knees and traced the countless scars. You had never been ashamed of them, they were proof that you had fought, that you had lived.

You had lived.

You let this phrase go through your head again and again.

And suddenly you had to bite your lip to hold back the tears. You leaned into Nyx even closer.

"I don't want to die", you confessed to him, even though it was evident.

Nyx let go of your hand to put his arm around you and placed his head on top of yours. With his other hand he grabbed yours again and rubbed your skin with his thumb. You turned your head to bury it in his neck and he hugged you closer.

"Me neither", he said quietly.

Those were the last words spoken between the two of you until the sun set and the wind cooled down to the point you decided to walk back to the hut.

But the decision had been set. The two of you were going to do it.

Together.


	2. Encounter

You closed your eyes and concentrated solely on your movements. Effortlessly, you glided forward with one push of your arms. The deep buzz of the water pumps surrounded you, no other sound disturbed you. The silence calmed you down, along with the knowledge that you were the one in control of this situation. To go up, down, forward or backwards, everything was your decision. Nothing could catch you, nothing could hurt you. Nobody expected anything from you, you were not needed, you didn't make a difference. But you were completely at peace.

Then you ran out of air, so reluctantly you started pushing yourself upwards again. And as soon as you broke the water surface, the feeling of calm that you had cherished for the last few moments, was pushed away by the sound of water splashing and children screaming. You inhaled deeply to fill your empty lungs again.

All the stimuli that you were able to block out under the water were pushed on you again. Your senses returned, and suddenly you felt your aching muscles.

That was enough for today, you decided and returned to the pool edge. You passed many people, way too many for your liking.

But the summer was going to start in a few weeks, and as soon as the temperature would allow it, nobody would see you in this indoor swimming pool again. Instead, you would be diving through the ice-cold water of huge lakes, undisturbed by the masses. You smiled at the thought.

Once you stepped out of the water, the heaviness of your limbs took an even greater toll on your body. But that was the proof that you had worked hard today and should be proud.

With a small smile on your lips, you headed over to the shower to rid your body of the chlorine. Another thing you didn't like about pools.

When you were back in your clothes, your hair was dried and your things packed up, you left the building and finally took a look at the watch. There was no need to hurry, your appointment was set for 3 pm. You still had forty-five minutes, and the flat was within walking distance.

So you started walking in a slow pace, enjoying the warm rays of sunshine that had fought their way through the clouded sky.

This district was not very familiar, but you would soon get to know it, if the owner decided to rent the flat to you. It was a nice and quiet neighbourhood with a park nearby, so you hoped for the best. Even though your dad was not home very often, as he was a hard-working scientist, you still wanted to finally live by yourself, in your own place. There was no doubt that paying your own bills would make you more mature. You couldn't wait for starting your own life.

And for not having to wake up at 5 am.

The university you were attending was quite far from your current home, so actually, the main reason for your decision to move out was the possibility to sleep for another one and a half hours every morning.

You had to smile at the thought of the university, ever since you had started going there, you felt so autonomous, you felt like finally becoming an adult.

Three years ago, you would have never dreamed of that possibility. You had expected the end of the world. Because that was when the monsters, the Skotáds, had started to appear. Not only you, everybody had been expecting the destruction, because nothing had seemed to work. No gun, no fire, no bomb had cut through their thick black skin. Everything in their way had been destroyed, and they had been marching forward unstoppably, leaving only desolation behind them. Even your mother had fallen victim to their march.

But then, the organisation had appeared.

DARWiN.

Nobody knew where they had come from, or how they had created their superhuman fighters, but it hadn't mattered, because DARWiN's Glaive had been able to defeat the Skotáds. And until today, they were the shield of mankind.

Despite being treated like celebrities, the Glaive managed to preserve their privacy. Of course, many people knew of the lives they had had before joining, as is seemed they had been normal citizens before, but their everyday life now was unknown to the public. It was assumed that they spent their days training in one of DARWiN's strongpoints, until somewhere a Skotád appeared and they disengaged to defeat it.

You had seen them on TV several times. And you had admired them, just like everyone else. Admittedly, seeing them fight was truly aesthetic, not only due to their presentable black uniforms, as furthermore they seemed to easily and effortlessly cut through the Skotáds with their blades, exposing the monster's core to annihilate them. Thanks to them, everybody was able to live a normal life again. And you could go to university.

DARWiN also held beautiful funerals for all those lost during the attacks. They had tried their best to locate as many corpses as possible. It was only due to their effort that you had been able to properly bid farewell to your mother, which you were eternally grateful for.

She would be proud of you. Of the fact, that you had pulled yourself together and continued on with your life, mastering every obstacle that had been put in your way.

And now, you were here, attending university since a few months and even looking for an own place to stay.

The place you were standing in front of at the moment. With a smile on your lips and a deep breath, you were ready to face the owners and rang the doorbell.

The flat was located in the fourth floor of the building. Even though the hallways were dark and not that clean, the flat itself had just been renovated. The white walls and wooden floor contrasted beautifully and made the whole place look wide and bright. There was no furniture yet, but you were alright with that. What delighted you the most, was the small balcony that granted you a wonderful view on the mountains next to the city. As soon as you had seen that, you were certain.

"I love it", you told the owners with gleaming eyes.

They wanted you to take it too, as after a short talk, they asked you to sign the lease. Happily, you agreed. You read everything through, then whipped out a pen.

Your life from now on was going to be great. You would continue to do the best you could, to make as many people as possible happy. Especially your father. When you would finally see him again, he would be so proud of you, too, that you were certain of.

The ink met the paper as you scribbled your name. Just after the first few letters, the pen suddenly drew a straight line to the left, crossing the first half of you name out, as the whole room shifted with an unbearably loud noise.

And then you were laying on the floor.

It took a few seconds for your brain to process what had just happened and why you were suddenly not on your feet anymore.

Shit. Was that an explosion?

As you tried standing up, you noticed that your legs didn't seem to support you any longer, you landed on your knees again. And then you realised you couldn't hear anything but a high buzz.

You took a look around you. The owners were lying next to you, the floor was covered in glass shards from the window and balcony door, which you hadn't even noticed breaking. Through the frame you could see part of the city and the mountains. And a monster.

You had seen them on TV, but never in real life. Not far from you, at the city end, where the woods began, there was nothing left but broken houses and ripped out, torn trees. In the middle of the destruction, in between the smoke, the black back of what you assumed had to be a Skotád was visible.

'Shit', was the only word that ran through your mind.

And then, the monster started drawing itself up to its full height. It easily towered all the buildings that were still standing. And when it turned around, you were finally presented with the horrible sight of one of them.

It didn't remind you of any living creature you had seen before. Its many deformed limbs were attached to its body without any logical order. It would have been hard to even make out the head, were it not for the shining red eyes, seemingly fixed onto you. The whole thing looked like it was composed of only disoriented, incompatible bones and muscles, covered in slick, torn black skin. Whatever dark fluid was running though the monster - you doubted it was blood - was trickling along the shreds of skin and dripping down. A dark steam arose from its body, indicating a burning temperature - or an especially cold one.

But the worst of it was that you were close enough to even make out all those details.

Frozen in fear, you could not even move a finger. You simply kneeled on the floor, mouth and eyes wide open, as the creature slowly marched towards you. On its way, the houses it passed were all torn down like they were made out of paper.

Faint screams where the thing that tore you out of your paralysis. Your hearing slowly came back. As panic overcame you, you tried standing up again, and this time it worked, even if you had to support yourself with a hand on the wall. You turned to the owners, who were still lying on the floor, but seemed to be in the same state of mind as you, as they frantically tried to crawl away from that thing. You followed them, but a loud crash beneath you told you it was too late. And then the whole building started tilting to the side. A crack appeared in the floor, separating you and the elderly couple. You tried screaming for help, but without even flinching, they stumbled into the hallway, leaving you falling backwards, along with half of the flat. You didn't have the strength or balance to try and jump over, there was nothing you could do besides screaming and reaching for something that wasn't there.

And then you were falling. Suddenly everything in your sight was black, as one of the limbs of the Skotád reached over you, bursting through the half-broken building that you were just falling out of. Everything seemed to happen in slow-motion.

The screams became louder. You couldn't identify if they were the old couple's shouts of horror or someone else's, because everything was overwhelmingly noisy all of a sudden. But you could be sure that they wouldn't survive this. And you wouldn't either.

You kept falling, screaming. To not have to witness any more of the destruction going on in the last few moments of your life, as well as to blend out the inevitable outcome of your fall, you pressed your eyes shut und curled into a ball in mid-air. And braced yourself for the impact.

It was not nearly as hard as you thought it would be. In fact, the pain you felt wasn't even nearly a fraction of what you were expecting.

"Hey, don't worry, princess. I got you."

That... didn't sound like you had hit the floor. And suddenly, whatever you were lying on - or more likely in - didn't feel like concrete, but a strong pair of arms.

Surprised, your eyes fluttered open. The sight that you were met with was something quite unexpected, white feathers were floating through the air, indicating the arrival of your saviours. Then, blue eyes met your gaze, accompanied by an encouraging grin. It seemed, someone had stopped your deadly fall by picking you out of the air and rushing to a safe space, under some parts of destroyed houses, with you in their arms. You were saved.

Carefully, your saviour put you on your own feet. They still couldn't carry your weight, though, and you weakly sank to your knees instead. Looking up at the man who had just carried you here, you tried your best to form a coherent sentence. Not succeeding, due to the shock still lingering in your brain, you couldn't award him with more than stare.

He was tall, dressed in the black uniform of DARWiN's Glaive. His dark hair ran down to his neck, small facial tattoos and a few braids gave him the distinct look of being from a different culture. In his hair, a few small feathers got caught up. Then your look was torn to his eyes. He watched you, thinking.

Handsome, was all that you could think.

What the hell was wrong with you? There were other things to worry about that the looks of some guy, even if he had just saved you.

He took the option of trying to think about something useful from you, as he put his hands on your shoulders and leaned you back against a piece of concrete.

"You're still in shock, but don't worry about it", he said to you, all the while focusing his eyes on the battlefield again. "You're safe now. We're gonna come for you once those things are dead."

With another smile towards you, he stood up and ran out of your shelter, carefully evading falling pieces of buildings, puddles of black liquid and the claws of the Skotád. A woman, dressed in a uniform similar to his, joined him on his way towards the monsters. You realized that there were more than one Skotád now, but you didn't care. Because the Glaive were here, in a rain of feathers. You were saved.

At the realisation that you were going to survive, that everything was going to be fine, the adrenaline started to fade and your stiff body began to finally relax. That was when the pain hit you. Being in an explosion and falling out of a building didn't come without paying a price, even if you had been caught; you suddenly ached all over. The pain and the knowledge that you were save were enough to push you over the edge to unconsciousness, so your sight slowly turned black as your mind seemed to finally turn off. The last thing you saw was your saviour, running across the battlefield to defeat the Skotáds.


	3. The Awakening

There was no sweat to wipe away on Nyx's forehead, but out of habit, he did so anyway. Even though he had been part of the Glaive for quite some time now, he was still not completely used to having the superhuman strength that he had been gifted. Lifting countless dead and unconscious people directly after the fight would have been impossible for ordinary people, but he did so without any effort. He had just placed the last of them on a stretcher and looked around to see if anybody still needed help.

Crowe, one of the only two women in their unit, walked around the corner, followed by a few people who had been close enough to the incident that an effect on them was possible. Alongside the unconscious ones, they would be examined to see it anything had happened to them. After she had gestured them to enter the aircraft that DARWiN had sent, she turned to face him.

"Libertus is making the final round", she answered his unasked question. After eight fights by now, she knew the procedure.

"I doubt he's going to find any more people, I've searched this area quite thoroughly already", Nyx told her. Then he exhaled. Finally, he could relax his mind, fighting the Skotáds took a greater toll on his psyche than his body.

Crowe was in the same state, she sat down on a broken piece of concrete, freed her long dark hair of the hair tie, then laid her face in her hands and groaned.

"I need a beer."

"Me too", Nyx agreed. "They gotta give us time off the next days."

In that moment, a dark-haired man, with facial tattoos similar to Nyx's, came around the corner. Libertus.

"No one here anymore!", he shouted over to the people filling the aircraft, then walked towards his friends. Crowe stood up again, knowing that they would leave soon, now that the area had been cleared. While walking back, they began joking around a bit.

"Good job, Nyx!" Libertus placed a hand on his shoulder. "The great hero, always saving the women in distress."

"Where's your white horse, oh knight in shining armour?", Crowe laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, stop it. I only did what had to be done." Nyx brushed his hand off. "You would've done the same if you were near her."

As they were speaking of you, Nyx noticed himself looking for your frame among the many unconscious bodies waiting to be shipped to examination. He wondered how many of them would die on the ride back to the strongpoint and caught himself hoping that you would not be among them. You had been unbelievably lucky to be breathing until now, he thought. Surviving such a situation was not very probable, especially since you had been so close to the outbreak. Had it not been for him, you would for sure have ended up dead.

Once he saw you, with your chest slightly moving up and down, he could continue on his way to the chamber for the Glaives, reassured.

❊

Annoying beeping sounds accompanied your awakening from the deep slumber. You had been dreaming, but you couldn't grasp the content anymore, all that was left with you was an unpleasant feeling. Slowly you opened your eyes. Nothing you saw seemed familiar. In the bright room, several beds were placed, a person lying and sleeping in each of them. Several machines were connected to them, which was where the sounds seemed to hail from. The smell in the air told you where you had to be. The hospital.

Why the hell were you in the hospital? What had happened? You tried your best to squeeze every bit of information that you could recall out of your brain, but your memories took their time to return. You had gone swimming, that was for sure, then you had left to... to do what? Oh, to visit the flat you might want to rent. There was the elderly couple who had seemed nice, and then-

You sat up abruptly and gasped for air as you finally remembered the monster - the Skotád! The destroyed building, your fall! Panic ate its way into your bones as you trembled and panted; the beeping sound from the machine you were attached to went crazy.

The door opened and a nurse hurried inside the room.

"Don't worry, honey, everything's alright." She tried reassuring you as she pressed you back into the mattress. "You're fine, you're fine..."

You opened your mouth to ask her what had happened, but no sound left your lips. Again. Or still? The moment when you had tried to talk to your saviour came back to your mind. You focused on watching the nurse fidget with the sack of fluid which was entering your body through a small tube. She was pretty, her black locks and dark brown skin gave a nice contrast to the white nurse dress. Your eyes found her name tag, telling you that it was Rina who was taking care of you right now.

"You're completely fine, just some bruises and cuts, but you gotta rest now." In a lecturing voice she told you to go back to sleep. As your racing heart relaxed again, your eyelids grew heavier, so you followed Rina's instructions.

When you awoke for the second time, you felt a lot more rested. This time, you were alone. You were not sure if you were even in the same room, there were no more beds and all the machines were gone. You sat up to examine yourself. The clothes you had worn during the attack were gone, only a hospital gown covered your skin. Just as Rina had said, a few minor injuries were all that was left from that terrible experience. And your memories.

To evade those, you decided to focus on your momentary situation. Was your voice back? After a careful cough, you tried whispering a soft 'hello' and succeeded. Thank god, at least that!

You knew that the smart thing to do would be to stay in bed and wait for someone to come check on you, but you had never been one to just sit around. So, carefully, you slipped your legs off the bed. It wasn't that painful to move; next you tried standing up. With a bit of support from the wall, you managed to get on your feet and take a few wobbly steps. Everything seemed fine, you felt more like you had just slipped on a banana peel and fell on your butt, instead of surviving a Skotád attack.

With every step your body recovered more of its strength, soon you had reached the door. You didn't get to open it, however, since Rina did that for you from the other side.

"Oh god!", she exclaimed as she was faced with you, obviously surprised to see you up.

"Sorry", you apologised for startling her.

"No, don't worry about it. Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, a lot better, actually."

"That's wonderful, since I was just sent to get you. Please, follow me."

She turned around and walked through the hallway, slowly and always with a side glance on you, to see if you could keep up.

"What happened? Where am I? Did you inform my dad?", you asked while following her.

"Those questions are gonna be answered now, be patient."

After a few turns, Rina stopped in front of a door and opened it.

"Here's the next one", she said, then stepped aside to let you enter.

The room was bright with sunshine, on one side there were a lot of medical instruments and computers, on the other a desk. In a huge, comfortable looking chair, an older man awaited you, he gestured you to take a seat in front of the table.

"Please", he said with a deep, rough voice matching his tough looking appearance. Next to him sat his assistant or secretary, eyeing the situation like a hawk. She was equipped with a clipboard and seemed ready to write a complete novel.

Rina left you at their mercy, she closed the door after you had entered. You sat down quietly, you didn't have a clue what to say.

"What's your name?", the man asked.

"I'm (y/n) (l/n)", you answered, satisfied by how your voice didn't betray you. The woman immediately scribbled it down.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Titus Drautos. I'm the captain of this unit of the Glaive. I assume you know who the Glaive are?"

You nodded. Who wouldn't know?

"You were lucky to survive that incident."

"What happened?", you asked.

"A few Skotáds attacked the city, thankfully we got there quickly. There were not too many losses. The Glaive brought you back here, to ensure your recovery and eradicate possible effects."

"Wait, brought me back? Am I not in a hospital?", you interrupted him.

"No", Titus shook his head. "You are at one of DARWiN's strongpoints. We want to examine you to find out if the attack had any impact on you, before we send you home."

"How long have I been asleep? Did you call my father?"

"You've been out for only two days. Sadly, we had too many victims to reach out to all their families. Now, could we please start the examination?" He seemed a bit annoyed with you, so you decided to shut your mouth and just nod.

Titus gestured you to walk over to the other half of the room, his assistant joined you. The examination was performed by her, while he just watched. She started with measuring your blood pressure, eye sight and similar procedures that you were used to from other doctor's visits. Then, she attached you to some machines while she asked you questions about your life. Every bit of information she gathered was written down immediately.

"She's one." After what seemed like an eternity, Titus finally spoke again.

"Alright, (y/n), please come back here. I'd like to conduct one final test."

You walked over to him with confusion set in your mind. You were one of what?

"Please try lifting this", he said and pointed towards a weight. A very, very heavy looking weight.

You shot him a glare, trying your best to put the question 'Do you think I'm a fucking bodybuilder or something?' into it.

"Just try", he almost growled.

So you got on your knees, grabbed the handle firmly with both of your hand, pushed your feet into the floor - and lifted the whole thing without much effort.

You gasped surprised and let the weight fall back down. Your suspicions that maybe it was just a lot lighter than it looked was disproven by the huge hole that was left in the wooden floor on the spot of the impact.

Shocked, you looked at the captain.

"What the hell was that?", you asked, flabbergasted.

"(Y/n), I have a question."

Strangely, he didn't seem to be too bothered by the floor. You just stared, awaiting said question.

"Would you like to become part of the Glaive?"

❊

Finally, it was time to celebrate their victory. Because it was impossible to know when the next attack was going to be, at least half of the Glaives had to stay ready (and sober), so they took turns with having 'days off' - days where they could drink. Alongside the other Glaives that had fought in the last battle, Nyx sat at a bar in the strongpoint. He finally downed the beer that he had needed so much directly after the fight, two days after.

Libertus, who had joined the Glaive with him, and Crowe, who had followed a few months after, sat next to him, equally enjoying their drinks.

"Finally!", Libertus cheered, right before ordering shots to celebrate their free evening.

"We were lucky this time", Crowe said. "There were only four Skotáds, and not many people died."

"We've got quite a few unconscious ones, though", Nyx added. The image of you, lying on the ground, came to his mind again.

"Do you think some of them are going to join us?", Crowe asked. "We could use a little support."

"I've heard that two of them are affected. If everything works out, we're gonna have two new fighters soon!" Libertus was quite enthusiastic, after all, their unit in this strongpoint was the smallest and in dire need of new recruits.

"I just hope they accept", Crowe said.

"Yeah, that's the question. Not everybody is like Nyx, after all. Wanting to be a great hero", Libertus laughed and patted Nyx's shoulder like he always did.

"It's not like that", said Glaive retorted, a little bit annoyed with always being called a hero. All he wanted to do was save as many people as possible, to create a better world. "I'd completely understand if they said 'no'. Living a normal live is desirable, after all."

At this statement, a female Glaive with long dark-magenta hair, sitting across the corner, listened up. Usually she was a quiet one, only adding something if she felt the need to. This seemed to be the case now.

"Do you really think they'll just send them home if they decline?", she asked, not looking up from her hands around her drink.

"What are you talking about, Elynoir?", Libertus asked, confused. "Why wouldn't they?"

"I guess they can't just let contaminated people join society again", Nyx said. "Could you have just walked home and continued your normal life, with this new body?"

After a short pause, they all had to agree. Because of what they had become and, in some cases, because the life they had known had been destroyed anyway, they had all decided to start a new chapter in their lives by joining the Glaive. In Nyx's case, the latter was a huge reason. The image of his destroyed hometown, Galahd, and his dead sister in front of him, were something that he would never live down. There had been no place for him to return to. At the same time, the wish to prevent such disasters was born within him, so declining DARWiN's offer had been out of the question.

However, he did not want others to have to live such a live, to be in such danger, which was why he worked as hard as he could. That had brought him the reputation of being a hero, though he didn't see himself that way. He was just someone who wanted to help, because there was no other purpose left for him. Since he didn't want others to feel the same way, deep down he hoped that the two affected people would just turn down the offer and would be allowed to live a normal life again. If they could.

That was enough thinking, he decided. After all, he was here to enjoy himself. He pushed the dark thoughts and memories to the back of his head and concentrated on relishing the good times he had with his fellow Glaives. If those new two would join their fight, he would find out soon anyway, and there was nothing he could do except supporting them.


	4. From now on

Your first answer was a definite 'no'. This was not your world, you were a normal girl with normal dreams and goals, and fighting terrifying monsters was definitely not one of them. Giving up your current life scared you, especially since you had just spent the last years building it up again.

But then you thought back to your mother's death and to your helplessness during the attack. It didn't sit right with you. If there was one thing you loathed, it was being weak, sitting back passively and letting others save you. You were a person who wanted to take action. So, after a lot of time considering your options - though you didn't even know what the other option was - you gave Titus your positive reply.

"Yes", you said. "If there is something I can do, I want to."

"Excellent", he answered, obviously pleased by your answer. "Sonya will give you some clothes to wear for the time being, then she'll guide you to Lieutenant Leonis' office, he'll explain everything you need to know."

You nodded and followed Sonya, the secretary, out of the room, through countless corridors again. If you were going to stay here, you would for sure get lost countless of times, sadly your sense of direction was not much better than that of a toast.

After a while, she stopped shortly and gestured you to follow her into a small chamber. In there, she handed you some underwear, a simple shirt and trousers, as well as some shoes.

"If they don't fit, live with it, you'll get a uniform soon anyway."

Your dislike for that secretary grew, you just hoped you wouldn't have to see her often. Once you had changed - the clothes fit more or less, thank god - she lead the way again.

"Here you are." She came to a halt in front of a door equipped with a sign saying 'Lt. Cor Leonis'. Then she left, not seeming to care a lot about you.

Timidly, you knocked on the door, then entered. This office looked similar to one you had just been in, though there were no medical instrument or machines. Instead, a couch was placed opposite the desk. The person you thought had to be Cor Leonis didn't sit behind the desk but opposite of the couch, with a lot of paper work in front of him. Opposite of him, the biggest person you had ever seen was seated on the couch. He was composed of nothing but huge muscles and didn't look too friendly either.

"You must be (y/n)", Cor said as you entered. He gestured you to the empty space next to the huge, scary man. "Please sit down."

"Hello", you greeted both of them, then sat down. Who was the other guy? This question was soon answered, as the lieutenant began explaining.

"Grant Cortes, (y/n) (l/n), you two agreed to becoming a part of the Glaive. Please know, that it won't be an easy time for you, nobody can promise your survival. You will leave your old lives behind. Also, there will not be much of a compensation. You two, however, are going to play a vital role in protecting humanity and saving the world. From now on, you are going to live in this strongpoint and be granted every possible comfort."

"How big ist this strongpoint exactly?", you asked.

"It is comparable to a very small town. We have shops, bars, different restaurants and even a gym. It is important that you leave this place as little as possible, which is why we try to offer everything you need to continue your life here, since you are going to risk it from now on."

So it was true. Just like you had guessed, you would never be able to return to your old life. You would never see your father and your friends again. A painful sting went through your heart. Had you made the wrong decision, after all?

"Then, we are really going to fight Skotáds?", Grant, who had stayed silent up until now, asked.

"Yes, you are. You are the only ones who can. "

"Why?", you interrupted. "And why are we suddenly so strong?"

"Let me explain. Whenever Skotáds appear, some sort of radioactive shockwaves are sent out. You might have noticed those waves in the form of an explosion. Depending on the size and power of a Skotád, everybody in a certain perimeter dies instantly. People who are further away can survive. However, someone in the right distance is affected in a different way. They inherit superhuman power, unlimited strengths and new abilities, which can be vital in a fight against these monsters. This is what happened to the two of you. The organisation has made it its goal to find people like you and train them in order to protect humanity. Those people are called DARWiN's Glaive."

"What kind of abilities?", Grant asked.

"You can run faster, jump higher, punch harder and see sharper than any other human being. Additionally, you can handle mystril. Only weapons made with this special and rare kind of ore can penetrate the Skotáds' skin. This is also why most of the Glaives fight using a weapon with some sort of blade. It doesn't break, it doesn't rust. Firearms would just waste mystril. We do have one very skilled sniper, however, who can use that weapon, but only because she never misses her aim."

Before Cor continued his explanation, he presented you a graphic showing the structure of the Glaive.

"Right now, the Glaive consists of 59 fighters, divided into four units. Each unit is located in a different strongpoint, stationed somewhere in our world. The captain of our strongpoint is Titus Drautos, whom you've already gotten to know. If Skotáds appear somewhere, the nearest unit puts together a team of four to six fighters, depending on who is on duty, to engage them. But don't worry, you will be trained before we send you on the battlefield, I am in charge of this. Additionally, it is required that every Glaive undergoes an examination every two to three days, just to see if you are healthy enough to be put on the battlefield. Do you have any more questions for the time being?"

"Yes", you said quietly. "Am I allowed to inform my father?"

Cor nodded. "Yes, you can write him, if you wish."

A thankful sigh escaped your lips. Thank god, you didn't want him thinking you were dead, like your mother. If you could just stay in contact with him, hear from him from time to time, that was enough for you.

"And where is my stuff? My clothes and bag?"

"It is already waiting for you in your apartment. Anything else?", The lieutenant asked.

This time, both you and Grant stayed silent.

"Then follow me, I'll show you your accommodation and introduce you to your fellow Glaives."

❊

Perhaps it was because he felt somehow responsible for you, since he had saved your life, that he cared so much about you, despite only having seen you for a few moments. But as soon as Nyx saw you entering the common room with another guy and Cor, his heart fell. You were one of the new Glaives. He did not want someone like you having to fight those monsters, because you were the kind of person he wanted to protect, not fight alongside with.

Also, he hadn't expected to see the two new ones so soon and so late at night, they had just come back from the bar a few moments ago.

"These are (y/n) (l/n) and Grant Cortes, they will join the Glaive", Cor introduced the two of you, ripping him out of his thoughts.

A few waves, 'heys' and 'nice to meet yous' were directed to you.

"They are going to move into the apartments 79 and 80, could someone show them the way?"

"I'll do it."

"Thanks, Crowe." He then addressed you both directly again. "Your training will begin tomorrow. Grant, you'll start. Be present at 8 am in the training room. (Y/n), your turn is at midday."

After having passed on this information, he left. Grant and you were immediately surrounded by the Glaives that were present. The huge man next to you didn't seem to be very talkative, he just asked for the way to his apartment, then left. You, on the other hand, decided to sit down with them and answer a few of their questions about your life, the attack and your reasons for becoming one of them. After their initial thirst for information had died down, most of them went back to doing what they had been doing before. The female Glaive named Crowe that had promised to show you the way was one of the few that stayed by your side. Just because she was the nearest to you, you decided to talk to her.

"I remember you", you told her. "You were fighting the Skotáds, right?"

"That's all we do", she mused. "But yes, I was there when you were attacked. My name's Crowe."

"Yeah, I know, I already got that", you grinned, shaking the hand she had extended to you.

"There's another one you already know here", she said and used her thumb to point back at Nyx. You hadn't noticed him before, since he was one of the few holding back, but as soon as your sight grazed him, you recognised the man who had saved you, leaning against the wall. Maybe it was because of the fact that you owed him your life, but suddenly you were not that confident anymore. Still, you walked towards him and once you had come to halt, looked up to him. Why were all the men so huge?

"Hey, princess", he said and grinned slightly.

You did not like being called princess, it made you feel like being weak and needing protection, but since he had saved you, you decided to let it slide this once. Instead you smiled back at him.

"You saved me", you started brilliantly. As if he didn't know that! Why was thanking him so hard?

"Looks like I did."

"Thank you so, so much! Without you, I wouldn't be here right now. So, thank you! If I can do anything to repay you..."

"Don't worry about it, I just did my job." He pushed himself from the wall and ruffled his hand through your hair. Again, you were not too fond of that action, but let him do it.

"Still, thank you", you said again. "Anyway, what's your name?"

"It's Nyx. Nyx Ulric", he said as if he were James Bond. Then he started walking away. "I'm going to sleep, good night Crowe, Libertus, (y/n)!"

"Wait up, Nyx, I'm getting tired too", Crowe yawned, then turned to you. "Want me to show you the way?"

"Yes, please", you answered and started following the two of them out of the building.

The strongpoint was built up like a small town, along the way, Nyx and Crowe explained a few things to you. You got to know that you had just been in the headquarters of the Glaive, the place they had to be when they were on duty. The aircraft and helicopter landing sports, as well as the scientific research centre and internal hospital were placed in the same building. Next, Crowe told you where you could get all the basic things you needed to live, Nyx knew where the best bars were located. After a ten-minute walk you reached a housing estate.

"This is where the apartments are", Crowe explained.

"Who lives in all these?", you asked, overwhelmed by the number of floors.

"Well, the Glaive, some important people from DARWiN, the doctors and nurses, the people running the shops, the cleaners, the pilots, the blacksmiths..."

"Okay, I got it", you laughed. It seemed, this place was really like a small town.

Your apartment was located on the first floor, like apparently all the Glaive's. Nyx left you on the way to the back, at the door for apartment 61.

"Thanks for showing me the way", you said to Crowe once you had arrived at your place.

"No problem", she smiled. "Tomorrow, if you don't know where to find the training room, you can stop by number 63, then I can bring you there."

"I'll take you up on that offer", you grinned and told her about your slight problem with orientation. Then you said your good nights and you opened the door with the key Cor had given you.

Suddenly, you had to laugh. Finally, your wish had come true, you had your own apartment, though the circumstances were not what you had wished for. I just have to make the best of it, you told yourself as you inspected your new home. It was actually quite nice and had everything you needed, a big living room with a kitchen, a bedroom and a small bathroom. Even though the furniture was there, it lacked a personal touch, but you would get to that in the future. Now, all you could think of was that beautiful bed, ready to be filled by your exhausted body.

Before you went to bed, though, you checked your bag and clothes that were placed next to the bed. Everything was still there, and the clothes seemed to have even been washed. Your tried turning on your phone, but the battery was empty. Tomorrow, you would have to buy a few things you'd need, including a charger. The only thing left to hope was that you'd wake up early enough to go shopping before your training.

Then, finally, you undressed and laid down. Despite your exhaustion, it took you a long time to fall asleep. You were in a completely new situation; not knowing what you had to expect from your future, missing your friends and father, you felt so alone. But you had to stay strong. And you were not alone. The other Glaives had been in the exact same situation, they'd help you. Especially Crowe, who had been so kind to you today. Concentrating on this knowledge, you finally drifted away into sleep.


	5. Misunderstandings

When Nyx entered Crowe's apartment - without knocking, as always - he could immediately tell that something was wrong by the way she sat on the edge of her bed, with hanging shoulders and hands folded between her legs. As she noticed his arrival, she tried masking her mood, but it was too late already.

"What's wrong?", he asked her, sitting down next to her. "And don't even dare saying it's nothing."

Crowe smiled weakly, he knew her too well. That was understandable, though, since she had started as a Glaive, Nyx had been her mentor and supporter, thus they had grown close, like family.

"I don't know, the new girl, (y/n)...", she started, then sighed. "She just reminds me so much of my younger sister. With her enthusiasm and her wish to do everything right."

Nyx knew, that she - like him - had lost her younger sister in an attack. But unlike his, who he had failed to protect, Crowe's sister had died protecting her. He had gained this information from her one night at the bar, after an attack, where they had both had too much to drink and had gotten highly emotional.

"God, I just hope she doesn't end up like her..." Crowe was not one to cry easily, but the cruel memory brought her to the verge of tears. "Fuck, I don't want to..." Angry with her body's betrayal, she wiped her eyes.

"It's alright." Nyx comforted her by putting his arm around her. "You're always strong, Crowe. You don't have to be. Sometimes, in private situations, you are allowed to show a little weakness. After all, we're not in an easy situation."

Crowe didn't answer, but he knew that his words had gotten through to her. Still, she turned to him and buried her face in the crook of his neck to hide it.

"You are strong. And I am too. I'm sure we can protect her", he continued and felt her nodding.

A few moments more they stayed like this, savoured the feeling of safety they gave each other. Then, a knock was heard and the door opened. Like Crowe had told you to do, you stopped by her place to have her show you the way to the training room. You had not awoken early enough to go shopping, but at least you hadn't overslept for your training. As you entered, the sight you were met with instantly gave you the wrong idea.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't want to disturb anything!" You turned around to exit again, but Crowe stopped you by shouting after you.

"Wait, (y/n)!" She pushed Nyx away. "You didn't disturb anything. Anyway, are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Alright then, follow me."

Without a single glance back to Nyx, she exited the room, followed by you, leaving him feeling a bit sour. He exhaled and leaned back, supporting himself with his arms on the bed. He hadn't even gotten a small 'thanks' for his emotional support, but, oh well, that was just how she was.

❊

"Again, I'm sorry, Crowe..." You scratched the back of your head.

"Don't worry", she said. "But it was not what you think."

"Hey, you don't have to explain yourself in front of me. I'm not a prude."

It had to be a tough life, being a Glaive and fighting for your life, so you couldn't blame Crowe for seeking physical proximity. You had anyway had the feeling that her and Nyx were closer than friends, by the way they had acted around each other yesterday.

Crowe, who had realised what you had implied, didn't correct your train of thoughts. It would have been worse for her pride had you known what had really happened. She didn't think much of it, didn't know that this situation would start the series of misunderstandings which would complicate your relationship with the man that had saved your life.

You didn't think much of it either, it was not your business who was close to whom, after all. Additionally, you had more urgent things to think about, as the upcoming training made your knees weak.

The training room was in the building next to the headquarters. Crowe accompanied you until you saw Cor waiting in front of the door, but before she turned around to leave, she placed her hand on your shoulder.

"Don't worry, (y/n)", she whispered, encouraging you. "It's going to be a lot easier than you think."

You thanked her with a smile, you were really grateful to her. Since you had arrived yesterday, she had been supporting and helping you so much. As you followed the lieutenant through some corridors again, you just hoped that she was right.

The room Cor had you enter was filled to the brim with all kinds of different weapons. Some of them you had never seen before in your life.

"First of all, you need to find a weapon that matches you", he explained. Then he started taking different swords from the walls and handed them to you.

"Try them out", he instructed, and you chose the swords that seemed to be the easiest to handle. You took it in your hands, it was a lot lighter than you thought it would be, but then again, that was probably due to your new powers. After you had tried out the weight in your hand, you threw a pleading look for help towards the lieutenant. You had no idea what to do. But Cor took his time explaining where to put your legs and how to swing it.

Timidly, because this was something completely new to you and you felt like a total idiot who didn't know anything, you followed his instructions. Just as you started to get more confident after a few movements, he stopped you and ripped the sword out of your hands.

"That won't work out at all. Try his one." He handed you another sword from the pile. The same thing happened again, after a few swings Cor exchanged the weapon for yet another one. And then another one and another one. Soon, he started picking daggers and lances, but he wasn't ever satisfied. You began wondering if it were the wrong weapons or if it was your fault.

This went on for nearly an hour before you were finally granted a sense of achievement. It happened when he handed you a polearm with two blades, one on each end of the pole. As you swung it through the air, you immediately felt confident in your movements. The weapon cut through the air in fluent movements, its circling around your body felt like you had been trained since your childhood.

"We can work with that." Cor had seen what you had felt. Instead of starting to train you, though, he took it from you. Answering your confused look, he explained why he had to take it back.

"This is not the weapon you're going to use, it's just a cheap iron placeholder. Your real weapon is still to be forged from mystril, in a way that'll perfectly fit your body."

That explained why none of the weapons here had looked expensive.

"Then what am I going to do in the meantime?", you asked.

"Your body still has to get used to your new strength, so you will undergo some basic muscle-building training in the gym."

Oh. Not very exciting, but at least that meant you had time to get used to the idea of fighting with a real blade.

❊

A bag was hanging from the door handle when you arrived back at your apartment after a long day of using every possible machine in the gym, with Grant and Cor watching you. Despite your new strength, your muscles ached, some of them you hadn't even known you possessed. Cor had told you that this would get better, though, and you hoped he was right. You grabbed the bag and looked inside as soon as you had entered. In it were a new phone and your uniform. Since you were excited and curious, you wanted to try it on immediately, wondering if you would look as good in it as the other Glaives.

You didn't.

When you glanced in the mirror, a clown was facing you. At least, that was how ridiculous you thought you looked. It felt like a costume, which it probably was. True, at least it was comfortable and would protect you during fights, but other than that it just seemed over the top, being decorated with all the edgings and silver buttons. Just as you wanted to change out of it, a voice stopped you.

"I know that look, we've all been there."

You turned to face Nyx, who had apparently just entered your apartment without knocking. God, just where had he learned his manners? Whoever it was, you wanted to roast that person.

The fact that he had kind of just broken into your home, paired with the 'wannabe cool' way he was leaning against the wall with his elbow, didn't present you with a huge opportunity to be glad for his arrival.

"You think you look, ridiculous, right? I've felt the same the first time I put mine on."

"Yeah, it's kinda bad...", you answered, masking your annoyance. You owed him your life, after all.

"Just wait until the first time you jump out of a helicopter and see them throwing feathers after you, for the dramatic, angelic effect."

So that's why you had seen so many feathers during the attack! You had to shake your head and sigh. "Marketing..."

"That's exactly what it is", Nyx agreed with you, smirking. "A heroic entrance for the heroes."

"So, did you break into my apartment just to confirm that I look like a clown?"

"The door was open, so I didn't break in. And you don't look like a clown at all. Actually, you look very sexy, you'll see that once you get used to it."

You stiffened. He couldn't be flirting with you, could he?

"But to answer your question", he continued, oblivious to your sudden change in posture. "I came to ask if you wanted to come along to the bar and have a few beers."

Shit, he was a playboy. Why would he ask you on a date when he already had Crowe? It seemed he wasn't the kind of guy to settle with one woman. It was none of your business and frankly, you didn't care about his love life, he could do whatever he wanted, as long as it didn't involve you. What didn't sit right with you, however, was the fact that apparently, he was trying to do just that: involve you. Did he really think, that just because you owed him your life, you would immediately go out with him? Boy, he didn't know you. Yeah, how could he, since the two of you had spent not even an hour talking to each other, but it still hurt your pride that he thought you would be such an easy girl.

"No, I'm not interested", you answered brusquely, and turned around to examine the new phone you had gotten along with the uniform. "Also, I still have to buy some stuff."

Nyx seemed to be short for words for a moment, then he pushed himself off of the wall.

"That's a pity", he said. "See you, then, princess."

"Don't call me that!", you told him without turning around to face him again.

Once he finally had left your apartment, you changed out of the uniform and got into your normal clothes. Deciding to really go shopping, at least for a toothbrush and a few more clothes, you put your purse in your bag to get ready to leave. When you had signed the contract back in Captain Drautos' office, you had noticed that your wage wouldn't be bad at all, but right now, you just hoped you'd get through with what you had left until your first payment.

The first thing you did when you arrived back home after shopping, was plugging your new charger into your phone to finally write your father. After the initial seconds you had to wait until you could turn it on, a flood of messages and missed calls overrun your poor phone. Just as you had been instructed, you wrote all your worried friends that you were fine, but as a part of the Glaive unable to stay in contact with them. That you were so sorry. And that you loved them all very much.

Then you finally called your father. He didn't pick up, though, so you wrote him a message too, explaining everything. After that, you turned your phone off, you couldn't take reading the answers you would get, it would just hurt you to much and would probably make you regret your decision a bit. Which was something you didn't need at all right now.

To keep your mind from negative thoughts, you started putting all the other things you had bought to where they belonged. You had tried to purchase everything that would make your apartment a bit homelier, since it seemed you'd stay in there for a long time.

❊

When Nyx arrived at the bar, everybody was there already. Crowe, Libertus, Elynoir, Luche, Pelna and even Grant were sitting around a table, greeting him as he sat down with them.

"Where's (y/n)? Didn't you ask her to join us?", Crowe asked him once she had realised that he was alone.

"She didn't want to come", he answered while gesturing the barkeeper to bring him a beer. "I guess she doesn't like company."

"She didn't strike me as that kind of person. Maybe she just doesn't like you?", Pelna said.

"What? Why wouldn't she, I saved her life, after all!"

"Nyx, he's joking." Libertus nudged him so hard, he nearly spilt his newly arrived beer on Luche.

"Can't we just enjoy the evening?", Luche asked, obviously annoyed to nearly have been the target of his favourite alcoholic drink. He liked having it in his stomach, not on his clothes.

"At least we can get to know one of our new comrades", Crowe said, toasting towards Grant, who just grunted in response.

"You don't talk much either, do you?", Libertus asked in a friendly way. "Don't worry, Elynoir is a quiet one too. But we will have to fight together, so let us at least get to know you."

The conversation changed to questioning Grant about his life. Nyx would have liked to find out more about you too, since he found you to be an interesting person. But that you had to run some errands was understandable, since you had just arrived here. He knew how sparsely the apartments were provided. And, like Libertus had said, you would have to fight Skotáds together, and especially in those fights he would get to know what kind of person you were, anyway. But still, he felt a little bad that you were left out. Next time - which would only be next week, since they had to be on duty again - he would just drag you here. By then, you would surely have settled in.


	6. The Impossible We

The more time Nyx spent with you, the more he decided that you were more than only interesting. After having you here for over a month, he had finally gotten to know you a little better. And you had started joining them on their notorious trips to the bar. You never drank that much alcohol, you said you knew you couldn't hold your liquor and preferred to still be in control of your actions. Nyx admired this - he had to admit - mature decision, he knew of many people a lot older than you who couldn't handle their consume and continually made fools out of themselves.

He noticed how, despite this attitude, you sometimes had enough drinks to start slurring lightly and laughing about many little details. Today was not one of those days, though, as you had already turned to drinking soda.

Right now, you were sitting opposite of him, absorbed in a conversation with Crowe, talking about strange phone charms. Crowe had just showed you hers, a small green monster from a video game series. He couldn't help but smile as you talked to Crowe enthusiastically, a huge grin stretched along your face, your eyes shining and your hands gesturing in excitement. Your smile did something to him. Whatever it was, it felt good, and he wanted to continue seeing you laugh, maybe even being the one making you do so. But he wasn't that close to you. Not yet.

Still, only seeing you in a good mood made his stomach tingle in delight. He liked seeing you being happy.

Thinking about it, he had to admit to himself that there were a lot of things that he liked about you.

For example, he admired the way you treated others. You had an earnest way of communicating, whether you were feeling fine, angry or even depressed, your authentic character made it visible. You didn't mask your emotions, but you also didn't push them onto anyone. You were just natural, and he liked that. Even if it meant that sometimes he noticed that you were not too fond of him. It was impossible to be liked by everyone, and it had never mattered to him what others thought. But with you, it was different. He couldn't explain why, but somehow your opinion was quite important to him.

Nyx sighed, he wanted you to acknowledge him more, to initiate conversations with him, to spend time with him. He would just have to try harder to find a common interest with you. Or to impress you.

Until now, nothing he had tried had worked. Whenever he had done his best to somehow make you aware how awesome and strong he was, you had either not noticed him, or you hadn't cared. It annoyed him slightly. Usually, it was not very difficult for him to get women to notice him, actually they tended to take interest in him, which sometimes even got slightly annoying, but you were different. You were not swept off your feet, not even after everything he had tried, even though he had saved your life the first time you had met. But maybe the fact that nothing seemed to work made you even more interesting to him.

So, when Cor had asked him to join the training tomorrow, he hadn't hesitated for even a second to accept. Maybe he could finally built up a better relationship with you. But he had to be careful during the fight, he told himself, since the last thing he wanted was to hurt you.

❊

God, he was so annoying. In the last few weeks you had noticed how, whenever he had come back from a mission, everybody had praised his glorious heroic deeds. It was like he lived for getting attention, like he didn't care what happened to him as long as he was deemed a hero by everybody else. You had heard how he jumped in front of others, risking himself alone and aiming only for self-satisfaction. He didn't care if he got hurt, he maybe wouldn't even care if he ended up dead one day. Not once did he think about how others felt about his self-destructive behaviour, about how Crowe and Libertus, who were so close to him, would suffer if he died. And people like that pissed you off.

What fuelled your rage even more was that you noticed he held back, like you were too weak to be taken serious anyway. But you would show him not to take you lightly, even in a training fight.

The daily training that Cor had put you through in the last month had paid off. You were surprised at yourself how fast you learned the correct handling of your two-bladed weapon, the glaive, as it was called coincidentally. Ever since you had gotten it, the lieutenant trained you and Grant, often asking other Glaives to join the training so both of you could fight simultaneously while he watched and corrected you. To your dismay, today he had asked Nyx to pair up with you while he was showing Grant how to use his axe properly. Seeing as Nyx had a lot of combat experience too, he would give you unwanted tips every once in a while, something you were ok with Cor doing, but not him. Especially since the Glaive seemed to treat you like an idiot.

But your anger disturbed your concentration. Not only that, though, since, no matter how annoyed you were by Nyx, you couldn't deny that he was unbelievably good-looking.

The glances you had to take on handsome face and trained body often interfered with your thoughts of how to finally land a hit. And that pissed you off even more. How could someone as annoying as him be granted such a perfect appearance?

You stood straight for a moment to relax your body, took a deep breath and tried your best to turn your rage into pure concentration. The only way to hit someone as skilled as Nyx, was to take him by surprise.

Without any warning, you started running towards him. You spun the glaive to make up for your lack of power with the speed taken from the centrifugal force, just like Cor had shown you. Once you reached the perfect distance to attack, you swung the weapon forward, but Nyx just dodged. You continued spinning and striking, always keeping the polearm in motion and changing its direction through a flick or your hand of a spin of your body. You tried hitting Nyx through an unpredictable order of strikes from as many different directions as possible, but he parried every single one with his kukris. You didn't stop, though, to keep him in a motion of fending you off, so he'd get used to it. Then, you put your plan in action. You especially focused on putting your feet like you'd swing the glaive from the bottom right and started that motion. Nyx reacted immediately, positioning one of his blades in front of his body to absorb your blow. Instead of finishing your swing, though, with a quick spin you threw it backwards again, changed hands behind your back and attacked him straight from the left.

You knew that move was improvised, still it had worked out much better in your head. Through the clumsy change of hands, you had lost a lot of force and speed, and even though Nyx hadn't seen it coming, he was quick enough to block your attack. This time, the force from the throwback was high enough to make you stop your series of strikes. Grumpily, you pushed one blade of your weapon into the ground and stepped back.

No! This could have worked! Just why did he have to be so damn good? In your head you hissed like a pissed off cat.

Once he noticed that you had withdrawn from the fight, Nyx let his hands sink and left his defensive stance.

"Hey, that was really good improvisation-"

Nyx started talking to you, but was interrupted by Cor.

"Good job, (y/n)!"

The unexpected praise from both of them made you momentarily forget about your anger. Surprised you turned to face the lieutenant.

"Had you had more practice with that move, you might've hit Nyx. I give you another week of training, then you're ready to face the real deal."

"Really?" You still couldn't believe your ears.

"Yes, really." He gave you an approving nod. "You can stop for today and enjoy the rest of your evening. You've earned it, both of you."

You couldn't help but turn into a grinning mess. After all, this was the first time Cor had praised you so earnestly. Not even having to spend time with Nyx could diminish your euphoria.

You could be proud, he had said, and that you were.

❊

Your enthusiasm had given you enough energy to not want to end training, so you had decided to finally attend to your favourite hobby again. It felt like years since the last time you had had a swim. To your surprise, Grant had decided to join you.

The huge pool was a pleasant surprise for you, on one hand due to its size, on the other because it was completely empty. Finally, no noisy children or painfully slowly swimming grandmothers would interfere with your lanes. The thrill of anticipation you felt was enormous, you'd finally be in your element again. Without hesitation, you climbed the starting block and positioned your body. Your mind was completely focused on your actions, so you didn't hear Grant warn you about considering your new strength.

You jumped into the water and glided forward like a fish. You were in heaven, finally, you could feel the water against your skin again. Exhaling through your nose, you pushed yourself forward. After a few strokes, you noticed how the duration for which you were able to hold your breath had been enhanced as well. Your eyes remained closed while you slid across the pool floor, you wanted to concentrate on and savour the feeling of effortlessly moving forward.

Oh, how you had missed this! You felt so free, and after so much time of being alone, of desperately trying to cope with your new life, this was exactly what you had needed. A situation in which you were the one in control.

When you finally broke the water surface again, you were quite shocked to see the pool edge so close to you. Had you continued for one more stroke, you would have crashed your face into the tiles. The surprise ruined your motion, but you were quick to regain your concentration and continue your lengths.

Grant was already sitting on the edge when you finally decided to grant your overused body the chance to regenerate. You pushed yourself out of the water and sat next to him.

"You're good", he commented shortly.

"Thanks." You smiled at him. "I've been swimming from my early childhood on. Water is just my element."

"Swimming is good for training your whole body."

You briefly inspected his muscles. Of course he would know about training.

"Did you do any sports before?"

"No, but I went to the gym. I wanted to be strong."

"Well, now you are strong." A grin found its way to your face as you said that. You were sure he would have never guessed just how strong he would become.

"Yeah", he answered, then smiled slightly. "I've never felt fitter. And now, I finally have the chance to protect them."

Just as you wanted to ask him about who it was that he wanted to protect, he got up and marched towards the showers. Still, the brief conversation gave you the feeling that you had just gotten to know him a little bit better. While washing yourself, you thought about his enormous strength again. You had not seen many fights between Glaives by now, but you had noticed how he seemed to be even stronger than Cor. Had it not been for his inexperience, nobody would have been able to defeat him. And suddenly you were glad to have him by your side. No one, and not even a Skotád would be able to bid defiance to a fully trained Grant, that you were sure of.

This was why the news you received the next morning, while you were waiting for him in the training room, shocked you exceptionally. It wasn't possible, he had been so fit yesterday! And although he was a giant, he had never been overly clumsy.

But Cor sadly shook his head to answer your thoughts, informing you that he had just told you nothing but the truth. Grant had had an accident. Apparently, he had fallen down the balcony in exhaustion, and had broken his neck. He was dead.

The other Glaives were sad, but not as devasted as you were, which was impossible to grasp for you. Yes, all of you hadn't known him for that long, but still, a comrade had just died! How could everybody just act like not much had happened?

As you voiced your incomprehension in the common room, Libertus provided you with answers to your thoughts.

"You don't know that yet, (y/n)", he said. "But it's not that uncommon for someone in the Glaive to die. You can't mourn every single one of them. That would destroy you."

"At least he died a quick death", Nyx added. "He didn't have to suffer. Breaking your neck is probably a lot better than what most others get, fighting Skotáds."

"But... that..." You were at a loss of words, defeated you slouched your shoulders and furrowed your brows. It was not uncommon than one of them died? You had always thought that the Glaive were so immoderately strong that they were never in any real danger. In your mind, they had always been invincible and invulnerable. The more you learned about them, the more you noticed just how much was done exclusively for and how much was altered by the media. Just to represent them as the heroes, the ones who would save the world. And suddenly you felt stupid and naive for thinking that way. Of course it wasn't that simple. It couldn't be.

Just what had you gotten yourself into? As you started doubting your decision, as you began feeling scared, started thinking of your own death, Nyx spoke up, as if he had guessed your thoughts.

"As long as you're good, you're not going to die. That's why we're constantly training."

He didn't look at you, and you were thankful for that, because your eyes would have surely betrayed you. His following sentence made you, for the first time since you had started as a Glaive, feel grateful for his protective instinct, and you would've never wanted him to know that.

"Don't worry, I'm going to protect you."


End file.
